Rat Queen - Barrel-Aged
Barncat Artisan Ales

Deep brown / black pour appearance with ample, attractive tan head that receded to a thin ring and spotty cap. From afar, the aroma is mostly rich, chocolate malts but up close the bourbon barrel booziness takes a larger role. Taken together, the appearance and aroma make for a very enticing beer.

Taste is very similar to the nose, with hints of bourbon, chocolate & molasses. The alcohol is not hidden with this one, it's clear about half a second into your first sip that this is a heavy hitter. Feel might be the highlight of the beer. Really thick and chewy with wonderful alcohol warming on the long finish.

Overall, really enjoyable beer.

500ml bottle served cold into a snifter. Shared with friends. Durand purchase. Review from notes.

Appearance - Jet black with a small whisper of tan foam on top, that disappears quickly.

Smell - Coffee and chocolate with some spiciness from the rye barrel aging.

Taste - Kind of like the nose, fairly bitter with coffee and chocolate flavors, some definite rye imparted a touch of wood too. The taste does kind of just fade off.

Mouthfeel - Thinner than I expected, low carbonation and quick finish.

Overall - Certainly good, but was hoping for a little more body and texture, the rye is a nice accent, but the barrel aged Rat Queen just didn't fully come together.

Bottle: Poured a pitch-back color stout with a large dark brown foamy head with good retention and some lacing. Aroma of roasted malt and chocolate notes with some heavy bourbon notes with some oak and vanilla notes also perceptible. Taste is also a mix of roasted malt with some chocolate malt notes with some heavy bourbon notes with some oak and vanilla notes and very little residual sugar notes. Body is quite full with oily texture and good carbonation with some clear apparent alcohol notes. Not bad but somewhat off-balance with overwhelming bourbon notes.

 

Got this one from hopsolutely this past summer. Cheers!

From a 500ml bottle into a snifter

APPEARANCE: Pours out a somewhat opaque black yielding a two finger, medium looking, somewhat foamy light tan head with good retention. Pitch black body with no carbonation evident. Head slowly fades to a full, creamy cap and clings to the glass. A slight ring remains until the end but leaves no lacing on the glass.

SMELL: A good nose of whisky, oak, vanilla and milk chocolate, as well as notes of caramel and toffee on the nose. Bold enough.

TASTE: Whisky, oak, milk and dark chocolate with notes of toffee and vanilla up front. Flavorful. Some more whisky and chocolate at the swallow, moving into a big and bold finish of whisky, oak, vanilla cream, sweet milk chocolate and toffee, some bitter, pure chocolate and notes of bitter coffee that linger nicely on the palate. Whisky, oak, vanilla cream and dark chocolate on this one. Bold, flavorful, and plenty of good stuff all over the place.

PALATE: Medium body and medium carbonation. Not quite the weight the original had. Creamy enough on the palate, goes down fine and finishes somewhat sticky. Some alcohol heat lingers.

OVERALL: This is delicious. As far as flavor goes, I can't really expect anything more. It is not quite as heavy and thick as the original non-BA batch, but this has all the right barrel qualities in all the right places. I had a feeling that this beer would barrel really nicely and it has certainly come through in the clutch. Like a last-second Kawhi effort from the baseline… Okay, that was cheesy, but I can’t be bothered to erase it. When the pressure is on, and I certainly put enough pressure on this beer, Rat Queen delivers. Good stuff and well worth checking out if you’re a fan of the style. An outstanding local BA imperial stout. Cheers!